Recently had the pleasure of having an outstanding high school student in my digital marketing bootcamp class for high school students from the New York area and today he is my guest blogger on how he Is preparing for the new school year and what he is doing to prepare for career and college.
I’ll be honest; I had thought this coming school year would look similar to the last, but it surprisingly doesn’t seem like that’s the case. For context, my name is Dashawn Sheffield and I’m a current junior at North Star Academy Washington Park High School (one of the top high schools in the state of New Jersey). I’m very active on social media platforms (primarily Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter) as I use these platforms for various reasons: Communicating with my friends, liking and bookmarking funny videos, and keeping up with national and international news. I take several AP classes: AP Literature and Composition, AP Chemistry, and AP Environmental Science to name a few. This school year, I went back in person, using my school-assigned chromebook to complete some assignments and my phone to upload work to Google Classroom. Almost immediately upon entering the school building on August 25th, my social anxiety increased exponentially. Sweaty palms, head spinning, walking incredibly fast. I haven’t spoken to anyone in about a year and a half and I had no idea how to react to their different personalities. Eventually, my anxiety subsided and I adjusted pretty well. I’m preparing for this rigorous school year by remaining organized and successfully managing my time. I have a lot to keep up with both inside school (classes, upcoming SATs, and extracurriculars) as well as outside of school (my internship with Audible and an upcoming HBO project) so I like to make sure that I efficiently manage my workload and still have time for my hobbies like reading mystery novels and screaming at the top of my lungs to Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston.
Some career and college aspirations I have for myself are to attend Boston University and acquire a degree in Business Management and Organizations (with a concentration in Management and Organizations and a minor in Economics) as well as a certificate in Investment Banker to obtain my dream job: Investment Banker at Goldman Sachs and some influences in my life are my godmother, my best friends, and my cat Savannah.
Moreover, one reason why I prefer my school over a public school (which I also attended throughout my academic journey) is that it has more personal guidance. Because my school has the freedom to incorporate innovative teaching methods, it allows me to advance beyond their traditional “year” For example, one practice that I like is that if I master the material that’s common for my age group/grade, I’m not left sitting idle in the classroom waiting for my peers to catch up. Instead, I’m given work that challenges me and engages me with thought-provoking work.
